I think he is ready for the NBA and could start a head of webster or travis Outlaw.

He is one of the hard ones to assess right now... where does he fit in the Blazers rotation? Where are they planning on playing him... he isn't really a SF and neither is Roy, so that leave Roy as one of the guards with Blake the incumbant starter fighting for time with Rudy and Bayless. Roy is the only sure thing there and Rudy and Bayless are giving fantasy owners fits because nobody knows which one will break through and if the end up platooning with Blake, they could both almost be irrelevant in anything other than really deep leagues and keeper leagues.

Foster is in a platoon and it's a big one. He will at best help in 2 categories, rebounds and TOs. He doesn't shoot enough to have any impact on teh %s. I'd stay away. He's the type you pick up later in the year, when you know you need bds and can sacrifice the other categories.

That's what I did last year. I had traded Chris Bosh for Deron Williams. I was leading my league in rebounds, but near last in assists. Picked up Foster off waivers, and in terms of rebounding numbers, he was good enough for me to stay #1 in rebounds.

For rookies, i'm jumping on the Kevin Love bandwagon. I think offensively, he'll fit in well with Al Jefferson. If I can, i'm going to try and get him as my 3rd string forward. I think John Salmons could be another overlooked guy to pick up late in the draft too. I just read he had 41 starts last season and averaged 17.5 points, 5.4 rebounds and 3.5 assists in those games. With Artest gone, he'll be one of the playes to pick up his minutes.

Andre Igoudala and Stephen Jackson should be good picks, to start off anyway. Iggy's gonna have another legit double-cover guy on his team, hopefully open things up for him. With Ellis out 3 months and Davis traded, Jackson's going to be putting 'em up!

1-Beasly:with wade and marion, his hopes are high to get to the playoffs in the first year, and he is jam packed with potential. great rebounder and amazing scorer, the sky is the limit for him!

2-Greg Oden:coming off surgery and missing what should have been his 1st year, he looks legit. i remember a sportscaster last year said "right now all the blazers lack is solid D, and who has that? greg oden." He will be a big asset to the Blazers playoff chase
3-OJ Mayo:Potential to do better than Durant did, he is a definate 20ppg scorer. He is quite possibly the next LeBron-esque player, and thats one nice compliment

4-Kevin Love:Homer pick right here. he is my favorite rookie and he bleeds talent. he is a legit shooter all around, and can sink 1/2 court and full court shots which is awesome he is also a great rebounder, and playing with Al Jeff will be so helpful to him.

5-Derrick Rose:After a ****ty play in the summer league, i hope he can prove he is the #1 pick and become a PG similar to the likes of DWill/CP3. He might struggle his 1st year, but alot of great stars have. I do believe though he can put up nice numbers.

Watch out for

Goran Dragic-The suns really believe in him to be their next PG, and with Nash acting as a player mentor, he can really develop into a great player

Brook Lopez-Coming into a situation he has a starting spot, he looks to be a promising star to play with Yi and Vince.

Robin Lopez-Blockaholic. He is quite possible to be one of the greatest rookie blockers ever. And one of the greatest blockers ever period.

Russell Westbrook-OK, i probably underrated this guy. but anyways, he looks to be a legit young talent to play alongside Durant. these guys can become an extremely potent combo.

These are the guys i know the most about.

Oh, as for older players, watch out for Kevin Martin to get a good scoring season, and for Kevin Durant to get also a good scoring season.

They are both possibly able to avg ~25ppg. Kmart will probably end up with more

beasely is gonna have a great yr with lots of attention on wade and marion he can have an easier time scoring

oden can be a monster i just question his stamina not being adjusted to a hectic nba schedule and missing all of last year

questions

how will brand come back from his injury?He will be back to the same old Brand that was an MVP candidate a couple of years ago... playing with Miller, Iggy and Dalembert are probably the perfect mix of guys to surround him with making them all stronger.

is arenas really ok?Obviously after the recent news of his latest knee surgery and being out until late December we can say no. He may never be Agent Zero again. Not only has he play almost no real ball over the last almost 2 season, but he has has 3 knee surgeries in that time. As minor as they can tell you a surgery is, there is always a negative edge to it that players never recover from.

is wade good for 3/4 of a season?This year yes, the Olympics showed us he is back to his old self. A lot of the time he missed last year was the Heat tanking after they fell to far out early on. Not sure if we will see the finals MVP Wade again or not, but he is definatly top 10 if not top 5 material.

is nash slowing down?Yes and No. He is getting old with a bad back... but his game is based largely on IQ and he won't lose that. He will put up very solid stats again this year with a pretty good drop in production based largely on the fact they won't be pushing him for 35 or more minutes a night all year long.

is artest a top 30 player?Yes, even with all the question marks he has on his record. This guy is a top 5 talent... his attitude drops him to a top 15 or 20 talent. If he can gel with what the Rockets want to do, he will be a HUGE steal if he goes as the 30th pick.

is chris paul injury prone due to his postion in hornets offence??? Not sure where this one came from... Paul is a trooper... he plays through sprains and strains. Think of AI, his style of play causes a lot of contact which will of course bang a player up. But his attitude towards injury and his will to win almost negate any minor injuries. He isn't going to sit out with a sprain or sore anything.

is andrew bynum a top 3 center?In terms of fantasy and who is center eligable... no. He is going to be a #1 center on almost every fantasy team he is on. He has to prove the progress he was making last year can continue and then he will have to prove he can stay healthy. Then yeah, he will be in the running.

what does tim duncan have left in him?His game like Nash is based largely off something that isn't really affected by age and wear, fundamentals. He will take a decline for the same reason as Nash too, they will concentrate more on saving him for the playoffs.

whos gonna have a better fantasy year durant or horford?Durant by a MILE. Horford is a SOLID fantasy option and he will be a guy everyone wants, but Durant is an elite level talent and has the ability to be a top 10 fantasy guy if he can stay consistant.

is kobe's pinky ok for a whole year?It sounds like he would rather have it amputated then have it cause him to miss any games, so yeah, as much as it might bother him, he will play through it. Only if the Lakers fall out of the race for some reason will he decide to shut it down late in the year.
is monta gonna come back strong?I think he is going to need at least a combo guard playing next to him for him to equal or surpase what he did last year. SJax is barely a SG, never mind a combo guard, if Marcus Williams steps up I could see Monta being huge.

is chris bosh the best pf in league this year?In terms of fantasy eligable, no. He is a top 10 guy, but has at least Amare ahead of him at the PF spot.

is iverson still inspired to play his hardest?Maybe to start the year he will play like he has to prove the team is still able to make the playoffs after trading Camby for nothing. But if they fall out of the race early, he could self destruct and play his way out of Denver.

Great Responses Helped With My Own Answers Here Are Some More Questions I Am Debating With....

Who Has Better Fantasy Year Marion Or J Smith?Marion has a better fantasy year but Smith is the better keeper.

When Do You Take Odom?If he is healthy he should be a top 40ish guy even as a 6th man. He provides a lot of categories and doesn't have gaping deficiencies(FT% is bad but not horrible considering he only takes 4.5 a game).

Is Rudy Gay A Top 15 Pick?Maybe in the top 20 area. With Miller gone he is the man now and is on the verge of Superstardom, top 25 is a worst case scenario. He should see another decent jump in his overall performance due to becoming more consistant.

Is Granger Under Too Much Pressure To Perform?No... he is now the face of the franchise and he will have another solid year and put him in the top 10-15 range. He isn't labelled as a saviour, just a leader, most great players thrive as leaders and I see Granger doing just that.

Is Garnett Worth A Top 20 Pick?Hell yes. Even with the kid gloves on he is worth a top 10 pick. Aging, but as driven to win as any player in the league.

Where Do You Take Hedo?Hard to tell, with how long it took him to get to where he is now, I don't see him getting any better. Top 50 might be a reach this year... I would be looking around 55-60th overall.

Lets See What You Guys Think

You tackled a lot of cloudy ones there and even made me have a second and third look at some comparisons.

Who has a better year Salmons or Garcia? one of them is going to outperfrom their ADP by a mile

My initial reaction is Garcia, and after looking at it more closely(I looked at it long ago because I knew it was going to be a fairly common comparison) it's Garcia all the way. He just really came out of his shell last year, he is a much better shooter/scorer(Salmons is a smarter shooter, hence the higher FG%) and definately got the respect from the team with the extension. Salmons is more versatile, but is 100% a role player... Garcia has the ability to have a bigger effect on any given game and is more likely a starter who will improve more this year. Salmons will put up clone stats of last year pretty much.

Considering they put up almost the same stats last year(Garcia more 3s, Salmons more assists offset each other), Garcia is younger and just last season getting to play more than 20mpg for the first time, you have to go with Garcia because Salmons isn't going to get better and the worst Garcia will do is improve slightly due to more minutes.

Isn't Garcia more a 2 then a 3 though, and Salmons used to playing the 3 more? It depends on who gets that starting SF spot.

Salmons can play spot minutes at PG, and he is a wing player, pretty much interchangable between SF and SG.

Garcia is a pure wing, with his shooting ability he can play SG, but he is big enough to play SF and is a decent defender so he is interchangable too.

Martin has a LOCK on the SG spot and Salmons is a versatile role player who can fill in at 3 positions, so he is almost a lock to come off the bench. With Artest gone and Greene too raw to even consider as a starter at this point, Garcia is the starter there for now.

Salmons will get starters minutes again this year, but should only be making spot starts. If you want a comparison for Garcia as a starter, look back on MoPete's years as a starter in TO... good comparison.

But it was always Salmons who started when Artest or Marin missed games....why has that now changed to Garcia? Not saying I agree or disagree...just curious. Salmons' numbers as a starter were pretty great.

But it was always Salmons who started when Artest or Marin missed games....why has that now changed to Garcia? Not saying I agree or disagree...just curious. Salmons' numbers as a starter were pretty great.

In my view, them trading Artest for Greene and signing Garcia to a 5 year extension(after this season) points to them going younger while tanking. Garcia will be around after the rebuild and will probably end up being a good role player on an up and coming team so will have more interest in letting him get better. Salmons on the other hand has little upside and by the time he is in his last year he will be trade bait. I would look for Miller to be on the trade block this year too, there is bound to be a contending team that thinks Miller will put them over the edge near the trade deadline.